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DeMarvion Overshown played in just six games last season after returning from a knee injury in the 2024 season. Ian Maule / Getty Images
By Jon Machota
March 31, 2026 Updated April 1, 2026 3:41 pm CDT
PHOENIX — Considering all of the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive needs entering the offseason, an argument can be made that they improved in some areas. No argument can be made for inside linebacker.
Not only do the Cowboys need an immediate impact starter, they need depth. There are only three on the roster: DeMarvion Overshown, Shemar James and Justin Barron. That’s a very thin situation for a defense making the move to a 3-4 scheme.
“Look, we made a run at some guys in free agency,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday at the NFL’s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. What do you do? You adjust. It’s something we’re working on 365 (days), 24-7. We’ve got a good plan. We’re not done. We’re always open for business.
“We recognize that we need to fill some holes there.”
The Cowboys made attempts to sign three veteran free-agent inside linebackers. Devin Lloyd signed a three-year, $41.9 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. Former Georgia teammates Quay Walker (three years, $40.5 million) and Nakobe Dean (three years, $36.03 million) signed deals with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I wouldn’t say disappointing,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday. “Any time you’re in the hunt for something you’d like to think things could work out, but we also look at every situation differently. Obviously in those particular cases, they just didn’t work out.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in January that there is “incentive” to “bust the budget” to try to improve their defensive roster. It sounded good at the time. Dallas was fresh off arguably the worst defensive season in franchise history.
“We’ll do some dramatic things,” Jerry Jones added. “… Finances are no object.”
But the closest thing to budget-busting moves have been trading a fourth-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for edge rusher Rashan Gary and signing veteran safety Jalen Thompson to a three-year deal worth up to $36 million.
Why didn’t they bust the budget to sign any of the linebackers?
“Hey, we were trying,” Schottenheimer said. “And if they don’t take the money, they don’t take the money. I felt like the offers we made were very, very fair. They were big numbers. We were very competitive. It’s hard to compete with a couple of former teammates (Walker and Dean) that wanted to go play together. And there’s different reasons about why you lose these guys. But we were very competitive in those deals. But that’s the business. … We’re far from being done.”
No. 2 wide receiver was a significant need last year at this time. Had Tetairoa McMillan been available at Pick 12, he would’ve been a Cowboy. But he went eighth overall to the Panthers. Dallas responded by trading for George Pickens two weeks later. The Cowboys maintain they have plans in place in case they are wiped out at the inside linebacker position after next month’s NFL Draft.
“The plan is to add skill at that position,” Stephen Jones said, “whether it’s the draft, whether it’s free agency, whether it’s a trade, or a combination of all of the above, we’ll look at all avenues. … A lot of moving parts to it, but obviously we’re looking at that linebacker spot. It’s on our radar. But for the most part, I do feel like we checked a lot of boxes in terms of what we needed to do on the defensive side of the ball.”
The type of player they’re missing is more than just an off-the-ball linebacker. They need one who can be the quarterback of the defense. That has been Sean Lee and then Leighton Vander Esch in the past. It was Kenneth Murray last season and Eric Kendricks in 2024. A long-term solution is needed and that could mean the best scenario is drafting one with one of Dallas’ two first-round picks. The Cowboys believe the right draft prospect could handle that responsibility.
Ohio State’s Sonny Styles is probably the best at the position in this year’s draft class. But according to most mock drafts, he will be gone by Dallas’ first pick, No. 12 overall. Next up would likely be Georgia’s CJ Allen. Pick No. 20 could be the spot for him. No. 12 is probably too rich. The Cowboys’ goal is to avoid drafting for need. They don’t want to reach for a position. Just because inside linebacker is clearly their biggest roster hole, they can’t just take the best available linebacker when they’re on the clock.
That means they could potentially get wiped out at the position, leaving their best plan of attack to search the trade market after the draft. Perhaps a team that finds itself deeper at the position after adding to its roster. Either way, Dallas is in a tough spot with the draft less than a month away and all of the notable free agents already signed.
The last thing you want to give new defensive coordinator Christian Parker is a huge question mark at one of his most important positions.
“I don’t think it has to be before the draft,” Stephen Jones said Monday. “I don’t think there’s any timing on that. I go back to player acquisition is 365 days a year. We’ve gotten good players after the draft in terms of players that have played in the league. There’s always opportunities for trades. We’ll continue to look at every avenue. Obviously the draft is one of them as well.
“At the end of the day, I think we checked a lot of boxes. I think we really improved our football team. I feel really good about what we accomplished. Between trades, between negotiations, between signing our own guys, doing things we felt were needed, I think we got a lot done.”
But one glaring area of need remains.
By Jon Machota
Staff Writer, Cowboys
